With the likes of former IBO welterweight champion Chris Van Heerden and ex-WBO middleweight king Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam set to make appearances on the bill, King Sports CEO Michael King is certainly putting together fan-friendly shows.
King, a long-time admirer of the boxing, is excited at putting together such a fascinating card of bouts and WBN caught up with the promoter to find out more about his company and the future.
“I have always been a boxing fan and love the sport,” King told World Boxing News.
“I grew up watching Cassius Clay and eventually Muhammad Ali. I loved watching the Olympic Games with greats such as George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Evander Holyfield.
“Ever since Sugar Ray Leonard won the gold in Montreal and when Cassius Clay turned pro, I was hooked. I have also had the honour of watching them live.
“It has been sad to see the downturn in our men’s Olympic program, and that is supposed to be the future of boxing in the United States, it is not! We won one bronze medal in 2008, and no medals in 2012. Our farm system is completely broken – this is a sport we completely dominated throughout the world and now we can’t even compete.
“It is important that we start reenergizing the amateur program – we think we can do that with some of the fantastic young professionals as you will see on April 16th.
“If we are able to bring in some young, exciting pros, who were also great amateurs – when you see them, we think you are all going to become a fan!
“Boxing is a tremendous business opportunity as sports is the most important television programming bar none. We are going to continue making the investments to bring a new exciting group of professionals to America, and if we can build them into important stars, this sport will come flying back.”
American’s Eric Fields and Charles Martin are down for ten-rounders on Wednesday’s show and King is confident that the card will please those who have purchased tickets for the Santa Monica fight night.
“To me, shows are always exciting; however, with any event or production, there are always issues, especially since we are on location,” King explained. “This is no different than any show that we did at King World – it is always exciting to start any major production.
“They all start out a little rough, but when it works, it is pure magic!
“We have ten great young pro’s competing against each other, alongside some of the greatest young professionals in the world. There are five great bouts at the Barker Hangar. April 16th will be an exciting event for anyone that loves boxing.
“This fight card is one of the greatest line-ups that I have ever seen. Everyone of the fights could be the main event and with the young up and comers it promises to be a great show.
“The aggregate of the fighters is 217 wins with 21 losses. These are some of the greatest matches I have seen and I am excited to see it. As a boxing fan, I can’t wait to be there on April 16th!
“We hope to bring more shows like these in the future as we believe we can succeed with this business, so the future is bright for King Sports.
“We are a full blown out promotional company, which means we know we have to build some stars – we believe some of the fighters you will see on April 16th will break out as stars and world champions.”
To purchase tickets for the event call (+1)-800-745-3000 or follow on Twitter @KingSportsWorld
